3-24 SS More CJD

I recently did a report on chronic wasting disease which is also known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. My concern was that as a hunter who ate the deer and elk that I harvest, might I get chronic wasting disease from infected animals? I called Dr. Scott Leibsle, a veterinarian for the state of Idaho, and asked: " Does an elk hunter, does a mule deer hunter have sufficient reason to worry so that he does not harvest and animal and/or if he does, he does not eat the meat? I cannot answer that question David. The peer-reviewed research and science, the statistical model to develop what the risk is, is just not there and all we can do is take precautions but we do not have enough information for me to give you an educated response as to your question. There is just so much that we do not know about these TSE's that I can't answer this question definitively. I got an email from one of our listeners and I thought I would share it with you.

Hello David,

 

I thought I would share some recent and old data on chronic wasting disease with you. Nobody pays me much mind, but I do try. This is nothing knew though, sadly, some don't want the whole truth. Please use as you wish...I hope you at least take the time to read over this ongoing nightmare, that we just can't seem to wake up from. ...I lost my mom to hvCJD, (Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is a rare and fatal human neurodegenerative condition which is classified as a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) because of its ability to be transmitted and the characteristic spongy degeneration of the brain that it causes) and have as a layperson, been researching the science daily for about 15 years on the TSE prion disease. ...for whatever that's worth." Thanks to the listener for your response and I am so sorry for your loss.